It has been confirmed by many successful captains of voluntary social service organizations that the main reason why they took up this thankless task of serving the society, was their strong belief that they actually "get" more in return when they "give" to the society. This defies logic and mathematics. How can one be a net gainer after giving off something in one's possession? This apparent contradiction is cleared when we realize that what is being given is a "material asset" (money, time), but what is being received in return is "happiness" (a state of the mind). This, my friends, is the essence of any voluntary social service.

Such organizations require astute managers, because they could have considerable financial assets at their command. Our purpose today is to analyze the managerial skills that are essential to successfully run these entities. It is my contention that managers of voluntary social service organizations require far more skills than their counterparts in business. On many occasions the mantle of running voluntary organizations falls on people who are successful business managers in their professional lives. They soon realize that different skills are required in this ball game.

A voluntary social service organization (VSSO) heavily depends on its voluntary "human workforce". Usually the captain of these VSSOs is changed every year or two (a short period) so that a new person can put his new ideas to work. Social service can be very tiring and the main responsibility of mobilizing volunteers into giving off their best rests solely on this captain--giving him a short period at the helm also therefore helps him to gracefully side-step and recharge his batteries so that he can once again work as a volunteer under some other captain. Let us identify some roadblocks in the path of these captains of a VSSO.

Members of the VSSO could be more experienced and capable than the captain:

In commercial business, usually the manager is the most experienced and capable individual in a department (which is why, in the first place, he becomes the manager). In a VSSO it is not necessarily so. The captain has to therefore contend with members who are far more intelligent and smarter than himself. In fact, since captains retire every year or two, the VSSO is full of members who have been captains themselves. Imagine that in a normal business you have just taken over as the departmental head but you have ex-departmental heads working under you. Won't they make your life miserable by reminding you ad-nauseum how they would have tackled a certain issue? The manager of a VSSO has to appear to be listening to all such members but needs the skill to implement his own plans and policies.

Members of a VSSO could be richer than the captain:

One must remember that activities of the VSSO depend on voluntary donations. Captains are expected to pitch in with their financial mite, when the going is not good. In this scenario, if some members are far more blessed in terms of financial muscle, the captain is likely to get an inferiority complex which in turn could reduce his effectiveness. This situation rarely occurs in a normal business. The manager's personal financial muscle has virtually no role to play in his official duties. You will agree with me that money does decide the "pecking order" in this world and if a member has more of it than the captain, it could become difficult for the latter of operate. The captain of the VSSO has to overcome this..

Members of a VSSO cannot be fired

A manager in a normal business has the necessary powers vested in him for firing someone working under him if the work done is not satisfactory. This is one of the more important powers amongst managerial powers that is used in today's competitive world to increase output. In fact, it is often said that efficiency in many public sector and government departments is low mainly because employees cannot be shown the door (the power may be used rarely but its very existence seems to keep people "in line"). Imagine this poor captain of the VSSO trying his best to extract work out of his members without exercising any such powers (because he has none).

Members of a VSSO are not salaried employees

A salaried employee is aware that his increments and other perks depend solely on the manager's assessment of his work. This fact forces him to operate in tune with his boss's principles. (It is a different matter that when things become too bad, the employee just quits and hopefully finds another boss with whom it is easier to be in tune with). What does the captain of a VSSO do, since his members are not salaried employees? How does he motivate them into giving off their best? How does he operate without this important managerial power?

Captain of a VSSO has no hierarchical power over his members

In spite of fancy designations in VSSOs, like "President", "chairman", "director", the captain of a VSSO is not sitting at the apex of an organization chart, as his business counterpart is. He has no organizational powers vested in him. None of the members are actually "reporting" to him. He probably has to use raw persuasive skills to get his members to implement his plans. Imagine what a tremendous handicap this would have been in a normal business situation. Today, business managers keep complaining about the inadequacy of powers vested in them and are constantly looking for ways and means of increasing their clout--formally and informally.

Captain of a VSSO has to neglect his family

Many a business manager has also had to neglect his family and dear ones for the sake of "office" and his "career". In fact, many have complained that they never "saw" their children grow up as they were busy in moulding their career prospects by being compulsory workaholics. But in this scenario, the spouse and the family at least have the justification of seeing the manager do so for their benefit. They can enjoy the fruits of his slogging. In the case of the captain of the VSSO, these activities may not be appreciated by his near ones because they see no material advantage accruing to them. They may perceive this role of the captain quite "wasteful". With little or grudging support from home, don't you think the performance of the VSSO manager will be affected?

These are then the constraints that a captain of a VSSO operates under. Aren't you reminded of the one-legged race where participants have to immobilize one "good" leg and run? Captains of VSSOs are forever running such a one-legged race. The ones who are successful are managers par excellence. If you have interacted with some of these species, you will find some common traits in them. These are not taught in any business school. What is it that makes them tick in spite of such odds? Let's discuss just three important ones.

Captains of VSSOs have excellent networking capabilities.

They always seem to know (through their contacts) the best person to do a particular job, cost effectively. Their circle of friends and well-wishers is large but they seem to speak well of the captain--always seem to remember some small task done by the captain to help them out or an occasion when the captain went out of his way to be of assistance. All these favours are non-monetary and hence "touch the heart" of the receiver. This network of well - wishers is in fact the biggest strength of the successful captain of a VSSO.

Captains of a VSSO have this ability of giving 100% of themselves during even short interactions:

They are, like any manager, busy people but have this uncanny knack of "giving their best ear" during any interaction with their well wishers. They have the skill to intensely concentrate on the issue at hand so that the member goes back happy about having been properly "heard". This, of course, does not mean that they might implement the request of their follower. Like a good manager, they will do so only if convinced.

Captains of VSSOs know how to keep their anger and ego in control:

Anger and an inflated ego are the two biggest enemies of these captains. The most important task that they perform, in fact, is to manage the anger and egos of their members who, as we said before are probably richer, more capable, smarter and more successful in life.

This brings us back to where we started. Why would an individual want to be in this one-legged race , knowing fully well that he has to operate under so many constraints. This is today, my dear friends, the biggest question that researchers in the field of business management and human behavior, are trying to solve. Should we teach students of business management to "maximize returns on investment" or something much bigger like "maximization of happiness"? More about this some other time.

"Mr. Prakash Shesh, the author, has done his MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad after his Masters in Physics from I.I.T. New Delhi. You may send your feedback to him by choosing an option at the top right corner of this page." He invites reactions on his e-mail address creative@nagpur.dot.net.in